Rocking-chair



.(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 E. P. KOONTZ. nocxme CHAIR.

No. 476,152,. v Patented- May 31; 1892.

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No. 476,152. Patented May 31, 1892.

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UNTTED STATES ATENT ROCKING-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,152, dated May 31, 1892.

Application filed March 20, 1891. Serial No. 385,758- (ll'o model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, EZRA P. KOONTZ, of

Ligonier, in the county of Noble and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rocking-Chairs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in rocking-chairs; and it consists in the combination and arrangements of parts, which will be fully described hereinafter, and particularly referred to in the claims.

The object of my invention is to produce a rocking-chair which is supported upon pivoted swinging hangers or supports, so as to give to the chair an easy back-and-forth motion which is very comfortable and pleasant to the person using it.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a chair to which my invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, the chair being shown in dotted lines in its backward and forward positions. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the hangers.

A represents the two base-pieces, which rest directly upon the door and which are rigidly secured together by the rounds B and the cross-piece O. Rising from the top of the cross-piece (J are the two uprights D, which have secured to their upper ends the horizontal pieces F, which are considerably longer than the uprights are wide and which pieces F are secured together by the rounds G. The uprights D are placed a suitable distance inward from the base-piecesAto allow the vertical portions of the chair H to extend down directly over the top edges of the base-pieces. Through the outer ends of each one of the pieces F are made openings, and pivoted in these openings by the horizontal lugs or proj ections I are the jointed hangers, which consist of the upper portions J and the lower portions a. The upper portions are provided with the short inwardly-projecting bearings I and the lower portions with the outwardlyprojecting portions 0. While the projections I catch in the ends of the pieces F and serve upper ends, the projections O catch in the lower corners of the vertical portions P of the chair II and serve as the pivots upon which the chair is supported'at its-lower corners.

The hangers J are jointed and curved, as shown, and the hangers, which may be made of metal or any other suitable material, are provided with half-sockets d to receive the ends of the rounds R, by means of which the hangers are connected together in pairs. One of the pivoted portions of the hangers (preferably the upper one) is provided with an overlapping end 0, to which the upper end of the lower portion a is pivoted. The pivotal ends of the portions are provided with the shoulders e, which allow the hangers to bend inward, so that the chair can be tilted either forward or backward, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. When the chair is tilted backward, the occupant assumes an easy reclining position, and when tilted forward the occupant can easily pick up anything at his feet. WVhen the chair moves forward, the front pairof hangers move backward without bending, while the rear pair of hangers bend freely at their joints, and when the chair moves backward the reverse motion takes place. By jointing these hangers a much easier and more pleasant motion is imparted to the chair than where each hanger is made in a rigid piece.

Heretofore rocking-chairs of this class have been made with a base and a chair portion suspended by hangers, each hanger being L.- shaped and journaled in the chair or base at the outer end and at the inner end provided with a tie-bar-receiving socket having a setscrew rigidly securing the hanger on the tiebar, each hanger being independently and rigidly secured to the tie-bars by means of the set-screws or by an angular formation of the socket and tie-bar, the object being to make the hangers rigid between their ends by securing their inner ends separately to the tiebars and not securing them directly together. These old devices attained the rocking movement only and materially differ from my invention, which has each hanger flexible by a permanently-loose joint, the inner ends of the two sections of each hanger being directly pivoted together and not to a tie-bar. By this means I attain the tilting and the rocking the efficiency of anyparts,

Having thus described my invention, I claim '1. In a rocking-chair, a supporting-base, a

chair, and jointed hangers which have their 1 ends connected, respectively, to the support and the chair and their meeting pivoted ends provided with shoulders which allow the hangers to bend inward only, the parts combined substantially as shown.

2. In a rocking and tilting chair, the combination of a base, a seat portion, and the flexible hangers suspending the seat portion from the base and arranged in front and rear pairs, each hanger at its opposite ends journaled, respectively, to the base and seat portion to render the seat rocking and provided with the permanently-loose joint between its ends, the inner ends of the sections of each hanger overlapping and directly pivoted together to permit tilting by the lower sections of the hangers swinging upon their joints as centers, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the base, the seat portion, the hangers at their ends j ournaled, respectively, to the base and seat portion to suspend the seat portion, as set forth,to permit rocking, each hanger having a permanently-loose joint between its ends by being formed in sections, with their inner ends directly pivoted together, as shown, and the cross-bars connecting the hangers in pairs and secured rigidly thereto by sockets between their ends and their loose joints, as set forth.

4:. In a chair, upwardly-extending supports,

a seat having sides extending below the upthe seat tilting, as set forth, said hangers being curved or extended outwardly between their ends, so that their lower ends will swing inwardly and upwardly with said joints as centers, substantially as specified.

5. A tilting and rocking chair consisting of the stationary uprights or base, the chair having depending sides extending below the tops of said uprights, and the flexible hangers arranged in front and rear pairs and at their upper and lower ends respectively pivoted to the uprights and to the said sides to permit rocking, each hanger being formed in two sections having their inner ends flattened and overlapping and loosely jointed together by a pivot and formed to prevent outward swinging, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EZRA P. KOONTZ. Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. H. YERGER, OWEN D. KOONTZ. 

